Mori guides, hints and tips

[Andres]

Please, post your strategies, hints and tips for playing with the Mori clan here.

[glyphz]

Just got my copy of Shogun2 last week from Gamestop and was pleasantly surprised that it is the limited edition w/ the Hattori in tow. After a painfully long update via Steam (14 hours long split between 2 days............) I finally got to play. Started w/ a Chosokabe campaign N (short), ,then started w/ Mori N / SHORT campaign still ongoing (done).

The Mori clan specializes in seafaring, with Mori ships being cheaper, stronger and move farther than their normal counterparts. All of their armies and agents however are of the common type, w/ the exception of the Mori unique Wako raiders. Situated near the western end of Honshu, the Mori have a very good opportunity to secure valuable trade nodes in the west early. All that extra income can be used to fund the navy to defend those trade routes, as well as the army that will make the rest of Japan bow down to the will of your daimyo, or perhaps the future shogun.

Opening: updated

The Mori start at Aki province, having fertile soils and a hallowed ground site which can help produce higher level monks as well as higher morale ashigaru. A land that would certainly continue to provide for its people. The Mori are allied to the Ouchi (2provinces) to the west, are at peace with the Kikkawa (1 province) to the immediate east, the Matsuda and the Urakami are situated further east, and the Kono and the Chosokabe to the south in Shikoku. The problem lies in the north/northeast, where they are at war with the Amako, with a daunting 3 provinces! There is great urgency to dispel this problem ASAP, and it begins w/ defeating their western army at your borders.

Bring your daimyo, Motonari, w/ you as you'll need throw all that you've got at the Amako, and Motonari comes with the Night Fighter trait. Might as well use it right away to get used to it, and deploy as close to the hill found in the middle of the battle map, as there the battle will be decided.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Have the archers at loose formation in front and the spears right behind it. Deploy the yari samurai as you see fit, as either your front liner or as your flanker. I recommend deploying your 2 generals side by side. As the battle starts, rush your whole formation towards the hill top, w/ your generals in the lead. The enemy will do the exact same thing, and this will prove key to victory. Charge your 2 generals at their light cavalry and crush it swiftly before their spears catch on. Have your archers fire at their counterparts, while your rushing spear line should be the first to aid your generals shatter their remaining enemy horsemen, and kill their captain. Quickly withdraw your generals from enemy fire (as well as incoming spears) and have the spears go at it, while redirecting your horses towards their archers. The recent death of their captain should have a large effect on the spears' morale, and the battle should quickly turn into mopping up the routers.

If you are not able to crush their army, finish them off and siege next turn. If you did crush the army, you should be able to move your army within range of Iwami province, and have one general move out and siege the Iwami and take it on the 1st turn. Before turn ends, don't forget to improve farms and port in Aki , hire reinforcements, build a new kobaya and sail your fleet to reserve a trade node (but after meeting the Chosokabe), as well as fix Iwami's walls. I recommend to use your initial trade route w/ them and use it as leverage to forge an alliance. It may be tempting to ally w/ the Kikkawa, but I wouldn't recommend it ...just yet.

Taking Iwami and its gold mine should be the Mori's first move, regardless of difficulty. The next move however, may not be the same, due to less 'friendly' AI in higher difficulties. If you're playing normal you can expect the Ouchi to not backstab you very early on (& the same w/ the Kikkawa if you have trade agreement) allowing you to blitz/focus on the Amako.

Continuing the normal campaign, you can proceed to the next Amako possession in Izumo or build up reinforcements before proceeding, depending on your casualties in the previous battles. You'll likely face a harder Amako army, (courtesy of 2 remaining settlements), before you sinallytake 'em out, and this time it'll be reinforced w/ a general or 2.
After dealing with the Amako, the player is presented with plenty of options when it comes to expansion, but one thing is constant and that is building your economy w/ trade nodes. Here are some of them:

a) Disregard Shikoku and Kyushu, and expand eastward towards Kyoto. Makes the pre-RD phase linear, securing all provinces west of Kyoto (in Honshu), keeping your eastern front minimal. It is an option to keep the Ouchi alive as Mori victory conditions do not include Ouchi lands, also war with the Ouchi means war with the Shoni, which will drag you off your eastward expansion, unless you can break their alliance with cunning diplomacy. A bigger navy is required to defend your trade nodes, and if RD hits, and when island clans declare war on you, your whole western territories are at risk of amphibious assault.

b) Expand to Kyushu first. Secures your western front as well as your trade nodes, requiring a smaller navy to defend it (ward off the Wako and hostile fleets). The Ouchi will need to be dealt with early, after the Amako, before going into Kyushu. Break your alliance with them first, but you'll get a diplomacy hit anyways. Ally with whoever is your dominant eastern neighbor (between Kikkawa, Matsuda, Urakami, Takaoka, Yamana)

In Kyushu, start with the Shoni as you're probably at war with them already. The Shoni tend to expand early and you may face stiff resistance, so prepare well. Shoni lands make an ideal foothold into Kyushu as they are fertile and likely developed. You may as well stamp out Christianity early to prevent it from wreaking havoc in your settlements, or convert early if that's your plan. The rest of Kyushu should provide minimal challenge as long as you play it smart. While at war, don't forget to use your navy to block their ports or raid their sea lanes.

After Kyushu, securing Shikoku is a possibility, but is not recommended in a short campaign, unless you plan to prolong the campaign. You'll likely be forced to take the whole island, triggering RD before you can make a foothold in central Honshu. Besides, Shikoku lands are not fertile at all, anyway. It does however secure the islands, leaving all enemy armies to come from the east, leaving your capable navy to defend the seas from amphibious assaults.

IMO, it is better to develop your infrastructure, economy and military, and prepare your own amphibious force, that will mop up Kyoto and secure its surroundings, if you want to end the campaign as soon as you become shogun. (which is what I'm doing)

Remember this on Normal difficulty, short campaign.
-----

Some of the things that happened in my ongoing campaign:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

* I allied w/ the Kikkawa at the first turn (w/c turned into a mistake). I was able to secure Izumo, but the Takaoka beat me to Hoki. After the alliance, the Kikkawa proceeded to take Bitchu and Bizen, but hit the wall at Mimisaka. The remaining Urakami proceeded to wipe out the Kikkawa all the way to Bingo. Now I had an unfriendly neighbor beside Aki, but thankfully they were open to an alliance. Allied w/ the Takaoka as well.
* Set my eyes on the Ouchi in Nagato, though undefended had two armies right outside. Threw all I had them, w/ Motonari's night fighter allowing me to take them out one-by-one.
* As I was about march to Suo, the Urakami and the Takaoka got into a war. Drew my lot with the Urakami , and took a small force w/ a general to take Hoki.
*Suo was secured. The main army reinforced, and Buzen taken from the Shoni (who also have Bungo) after marching over the land bridge. Stopped there as the Shoni have an army of similar size to mine at Tsukushi.
* By the time I reached Hoki, it was taken by the Urakami and so divert that army by sea towards Bungo, while my main army prepares to face the Shoni main army.
* Was about to face the Shoni main army, when the Shimazu out of nowhere crushed the large Shoni army and took Tsukushi!!! The Shimazu took Higo but lost Satsuma, then decided to go north, instead of retaking Satsuma.
* Noticed the Shimazu army took heavy losses as the result of the battle, and to prevent it from recovering, declared war on the Shimazu and crushed the army taking Tsukushi by my self.
*With main army and the diverted army from Hoki landing in eastern Kyushu, Hizen, Higo, and Bungo were taken in the next two turns, wiping out both the Shimazu and the Shoni. The same 2 armies marched south, and with main army splitting into 2, Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga were taken at the same turn w/ minimal resistance (w/ the Ito main army somewhere between Osumi and Hyuga) wiping out the Ito.
*Currently developing and specializing my provinces, the trade nodes are all almost saturated (w/ a navy having secured Hokkaido iron as well, though no trade fleet yet), and income per turn now at 11,000 koku! Aki is producing yari ashigaru w/ increased morale as well as ranked monks, Suo w/ cavalry, Buzen for archers, Satsuma (w/armourer) for katana, nodachi & katana cav, Tsukushi for ranked metsuke, and Bungo/Hizen for ships.
*Allied w/ Takeda & Hojo. Urakami doing well at 7 provinces. Hatakeyama, Hatano, and Ikko split central Honshu and fighting amongst themselves. Was allied w/ Chosokabe they broke away for some reason... Takeda is dominant in west-central Honshu, the Date strong in the north, but they keep getting sidetracked by amphibious invasions by the Honma at Uzen...

[Maltz]

Mori is the hardest of the three western clans, since there are more neighbors to begin with, and we will need to maintain armies on multiple fronts, unlike the two island clans. Bizen and Hoki is a good line to maintain, as they specialize in Blacksmith/Armorer and Crafts. Once we secure these two, we can get the third army to go for the richness of Northern Kyushu. Start the campaign by rushing 4 Bow Kobaya, so you can secure all four trade nodes in the west.

Mori also has an interesting early-mid game DLC unit "Wako Raiders". They are not really more powerful than their cousin Katana Samurai (having inferior armor and can't really make up for it with increased melee defence), but they can be mass produced. If you need the extra push to defeat an AI that has tons of Yari, go Wako (they are swords)!

Here is the ongoing story of my Mori campaign. You can find some naval tactics discussion as well.